Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A friend of mine, Beth Swann, put this on Facebook today and I just had to repost it here….especially for those living in our area…although this could happen anywhere! Beth's mother, Mary Moore, is my Family History teacher each Sunday morning, and one of the sweetest and kindest people I know. I copied it just as Beth wrote it:I want to share a story in case it happens to spare someone else the frustration of theft, deception, or a fate that’s far worse. Last week, my mom was driving home from some errands in the afternoon. While stopped at a stop light, a couple pulled up next to her and told her that her back tire was about to fall off the car. The driver (male) said that his wife (the passenger) insisted they follow her (my mom) to let her know about the problem and had been supposedly trying to let her know about the problem for over a mile now. My mom hesitated for a second but remembered a fender bender that she had a few months ago and thought it might be true. The couple said they would assist her with a tire change on the side of the road. They pulled over and proceeded to “help” my mom. They distracted her enough that they stole her wallet and keys to my dad’s truck out of her purse which she happened to have in the trunk of the car. My mom’s purse was zipped back up and it was not immediately known to my mom that anything was taken. My mom decided at a certain point that she would just wait until she could get to a tire shop to have them take care of it. The couple, acting overly concerned, said they would follow her there just to make sure she got there okay. Everyone got back into their own car and the couple followed my mom until they got to the next intersection where they promptly made a turn off the street and went another direction. My mom did not know anything was taken until she got to the grocery store an hour later. And until she was able to start making phone calls to banks and credit card companies, they had already racked up several hundreds of dollars in charges. Needless to say, everything made more sense and my mom felt horrible for believing the couple. She has been kicking herself ever since for believing them. My mom noted that at one point during the stop, the lady brought out a mallet from her own car and my mom wondered what that was for. I think my mom was lucky and things could have gone much worse had they not gotten what they wanted. Now if you know my mom, you know she is a SAINT and always wants to believe the best in everyone. And if you know me, you know I revere my mom and feel that she is the best the human race has ever had to offer (with exception of the Savior, of course). So you can imagine all the unkind thoughts I am having right now about someone who preyed on my mom and took extreme advantage of a sweet lady. When my mom filed a report with the police, they said that if someone ever tried to get her to pull over again, she should just drive straight to the police station and call 911 while driving there and an officer would meet her on the way. The officer also told her that they might come for the truck sometime during the night (since they now had her address) and that she should park another car in front of it and block it in the driveway from behind. So she did and even slept in the bedroom closest to where the cars were parked, ready to catch them if necessary. Not only am I upset this happened to my dear mother, I am saddened that things like this make you feel like you can’t trust anyone anymore. So, bottom line, don’t pull over. And if you live local, be on the look out for a Hispanic couple in their 40s or 50s driving around a beige colored sedan asking people to pull over. And on the up side, I’m so grateful that was the worst of it and that my mom is okay.

Great idea Rhonda, but I just tried and it's not working for me. There is no "share" button on that post.

Also I just read this post from Kimmy Sorenson in our ward. Times like this I'm glad I'm married to a cop:

"Alright friends. Don't open your doors to any pounding or knocking. I have three cops in front of my house. My neighbor called in pounding on her door, it's not the first call for them tonight with that in the area. We heard a car speed off a few minutes before they got here. We called them out at 1 am last night because of someone in our driveway (see story in my last post comments). People are getting desperate to get in your home. Be smart. Lock up and don't open your doors! I need a gun. For 11 years I've fought it...josh may finally win."

"Charity is accepting someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped...The best and most clear indicator that we are progressing spiritually and coming unto Christ is the way we treat other people..."-Marvin J. Ashton